The invention relates to a portable snow melting device. More particularly, the invention relates to a device which contains a heating element, and which may be applied to the surface of snow to warm the snow and initiate melting thereof.
A snowfall may be exciting for children--who look forward to fun in the snow, but can be aggravating to adults--who anticipate hours of back-breaking snow removal work.
Snow removal on sidewalks, walkways, driveways, and patios is traditionally carried out with a shovel. The problems with using a shovel are many. First, a lot of labor is involved with repeatedly undermining the shovel beneath a pile of snow, and then physically lifting the snow away from the sidewalk. Second, the shovel cannot always remove all of the snow. On textured sidewalks and brick or cobblestone driveways, it is not possible to scrape off all snow. Third, on such textured sidewalks and driveways, it is extremely difficult to carry out shoveling at all, since the shovel continually snags upon a brick, stone, or the like. The shovel can even chip bricks and stones, creating a weathered appearance after the winter. A similar problem exists with shoveling snow from uneven or broken sidewalks and driveways.
The snow blower has been around for decades, and provides a less labor intensive snow removal solution for some people. However, the snow blowers typically employ two stroke engines, which are often difficult to start, and require long term storage of gasoline and oil. Further, they are loud and produce the odor of gasoline exhaust as they operate. Thus they are unsuitable for use in tight alleys and near buildings where the fumes could harm people living therein.
Several have proposed devices for melting snow. U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,057 to Bayless; U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,988 to Dyer; U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,418 to Watanabe; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,365 to Shields each disclose snow melting heated mats. These devices demonstrate that there is available technology for producing a mat which is capable of heating and melting snow. However, these devices are only suited for installation upon a walkway prior to a snowfall, so that they can then be activated following the snowfall to cause the snow to melt. However, none of these devices are suited for portable use wherein the device is brought to a location after a snowfall where snow melting is desired, to effect snow melting at that location.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.